Chapter Six – The Alpha's Heir
(Darius's POV)
Everyone in this city knows what I am. The next in line. The Alpha.
I stand 6'9", built of pure muscle. Black-as-night hair. Eyes like frost. I walk into a room and people stop talking. They don't know why they're afraid. They just are.
Good.
Fear keeps them in line.
I've been raised to rule. Trained to lead. Conditioned to dominate. But no one trained me for her.
Raven.
She's not like the others. She doesn't flinch when I speak. Doesn't bow when I pass. She looks at me like she sees something I don't.
And that's dangerous.
Because I don't know what she sees.
The Elders summoned me again today.
Their chamber is always cold, no matter the season. The walls are carved with runes that pulse faintly, like veins under skin. They sit in a circle, faces hidden beneath hoods, voices like wind through dead leaves.
"She grows stronger," one said. "She remembers," said another. "She must be contained," whispered a third.
I stood in the center, arms crossed. "She's under control."
"She is not," the first Elder snapped. "You've grown attached." "She's mine," I said. "She is a threat." "She is a weapon." "She is waking."
I didn't flinch. "Then let her wake."
A long silence.
Then: "If she breaks the seal, we will end her."
I nodded once. "You'll have to go through me."
Later, I stood in the training yard, shirtless, fists bloodied. The sand was stained red. My opponent lay groaning at my feet.
"Again," I growled.
"No one else wants to spar," Jalen said, tossing me a towel. "You've broken three ribs and a jaw today."
"Then send in more."
He raised an eyebrow. "You trying to forget something?"
I didn't answer.
He sighed. "You saw her again, didn't you?"
"She's not the same."
"No one is, after the collar."
"She's still in there."
"Then why haven't you gone to her?"
I looked away. "Because if I do… I won't be able to leave."
That night, I stood outside her cell.
I didn't go in.
I just listened.
No sound. No breath. No heartbeat.
But I knew she was alive.
Because the scar on my chest — the one she gave me — still burned.
And Maximus, my wolf, paced inside me, restless and snarling.
He wanted out. He wanted her. He wanted blood.